LEISA THOMPSON, THE ANN ARBOR NEWSAngela Eddins, one of the owners of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, 521 E. Liberty St. in Ann Arbor, creates a "death by chocolate" apple. The store offers a multitude of chocolates, including sugar free, as well as Washtenaw Dairy ice cream.

Nearly all the confections sold at downtown Ann Arbor's new Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory are just a bit larger than what you're likely to find at other candy stores. The trademark is, of course, a throwback to the company's Colorado heritage - for example, you won't find peanut butter cups here, but you can buy a peanut butter bucket.

Rocky Mountain opened last week on East Liberty Street in Wizzywig's former space.

"All of our chocolate is handmade, even hand-boxed," said Angela Eddins, who owns the franchise store with her husband, Joseph, and her parents Carol and Robert Fletcher.

The store also sells Washtenaw Dairy ice cream and a large selection of sugar-free chocolate treats.

It was an "apple pie" candy apple that hooked Eddins and got the whole thing started for her family. A stay-at-home mother of six, Eddins was looking for a business opportunity. Her sister, who had recently moved back to Michigan from Arizona, raved about Rocky Mountain Chocolate. She brought a candy apple back for Eddins one day from a metro Detroit store - a Granny Smith apple covered in caramel, white confection, brown sugar and cinnamon.

"I bit into that apple pie apple and thought, this is it - Ann Arbor needs this," said Eddins, who has a bachelor's degree in urban planning from Eastern Michigan University.

That was two years ago. Construction on the 1,500 square-foot space on East Liberty took seven months. There are about 18 seats inside the shop, which is the company's eighth Michigan store.

Truffles sell for $2.75 each and assorted chocolates sell for $23.95 a pound. Gift boxes are available and the store will cater for special events.

Also opening last week was the Coffee House Creamery in Scio Township.

The shop, located in the new building along Jackson Avenue in front of the Quality 16 theaters, serves coffee and ice cream. It's owned by Natalie and Talus Park of Dexter.

Natalie Park said she and her husband always thought an ice cream shop would be a great fit near the theater. After taking their two children to the movies, the family the would often travel back to Dexter to visit Dairy Queen for a treat.

"He looks at me one night and said, 'We could do that,' " Natalie Park said. "So we did some research, we put together a business plan and because I feel so passionate about coffee, I decided I wanted it to be a coffee shop, too."

Although she's a former first-grade teacher turned stay-at-home mom, Park had some restaurant experience to draw from - her parents owned a diner in West Virginia.

Coffee House Creamery serves 24 flavors of hand-dipped ice cream and offers a full coffee bar. It has seating for 26 inside and offers wireless Internet access.

The music led to catering which has now led to a restaurant for the multitalented "Chef" Chris Sirvinskis.

Blues musician Sirvinskis opened Chef Chris' Boogie Woogie Bar-B-Que in Hamburg Township last month, in the Hamburg Village shopping center.

True to its name, Boogie Woogie serves up a variety of Southern-style barbecued food cooked slowly over low wood heat, including ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket. Side dishes include collared greens, red beans and rice and sweet potato casserole.

The 104,000-square-foot restaurant is primarily a carry-out and catering place, although just over a dozen seats are available inside. Sirvinskis said a lot of customers of his barbecue catering company, which existed before the restaurant, also hire his blues band when they book him for food.

The downtown Ann Arbor restaurant also became a non-smoking establishment and expanded its menu with the addition of more appetizers. General Manager Tom Esper said the name change was made to be provide clarity about what the restaurant serves, especially in the Deep South, where barbecuing means slow-cooking over indirect heat. The Mongolian Grill cooks its food on a circular grill as customers watch. New menu items include shrimp tempura, chicken tenders and Kung Pao quesadilla.

It looks like Build-A-Bear Workshop is setting up shop in Ann Arbor's Briarwood Mall.
According to the St. Louis-based company's Web site, the store will open this fall.
Build-A-Bear is a make-your-own stuffed animal retailer where customers can, of course, build their own bear.

Briarwood Mall hasn't had any such store since the Chelsea Teddy Bear Co. moved out a few years ago.

This report on retail businesses appears on Fridays. To report a news item, contact business reporter Stefanie Murray at smurray@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6932. Tips also may be faxed to 734-994-6879 or mailed to Retail Report, The Ann Arbor News, P.O. Box 1147, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.